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Measuring surface-layer fluxes of heat and momentum using optical scintillation

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Abstract

An experiment is described showing that an optical scintillation instrument gives reliable values of heat and momentum fluxes in the surface layer, subject to the usual restrictions of homogeneity and steady state. This instrument measures the turbulence inner scale and refractive-index structure parameter, which are used to obtain the fluxes from Monin-Obukhov similarity relationships. The instrument gives space-averaged values over a propagation path that can range in length from tens to hundreds of meters. The history of the use of optical propagation to estimate fluxes is reviewed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wave Propagation Laboratory, Environmental Research Laboratories, Natonal Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway, 80303, Boulder, CO, USA

    Reginald J. Hill, Gerard R. Ochs & James J. Wilson

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  1. Reginald J. Hill
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  2. Gerard R. Ochs
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  3. James J. Wilson
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Hill, R.J., Ochs, G.R. & Wilson, J.J. Measuring surface-layer fluxes of heat and momentum using optical scintillation. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 58, 391–408 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120239

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